Düster und spannend! ( )

Un año después de resolver los crímenes que aterrorizaron al pueblo de Baztán, la inspectora Amaia Salazar acude embarazada al juicio contra Jasón Medina, el padrastro de Johana Márquez, acusado de violar, mutilar y asesinar a la joven imitando el modus operandi del basajaun. Pero, tras el suicidio del acusado, el juicio debe cancelarse, y Amaia es reclamada por la policía porque se ha hallado una nota suicida dirigida a la inspectora, una nota que contiene un escueto e inquietante mensaje: «Tarttalo». Esa sola palabra destapará una trama terrorífica tras la búsqueda de la verdad. ( )

One year later, Jason Medina's trial for the rape and murder of his stepdaughter is cancelled after his suicide in the courthouse holding cell leaving a note with the word Tarttalo, a local legendary creature similar to a Cyclops. The case is far from over yet.

Even more intense, exciting, and intriguing than the first book. ( )

I enjoyed most of the first book in this trilogy, 'The Invisible Guardian' but found myself surprised towards the end when it tipped over from well-executed police procedural with a strong sense of place and a main police officer with a traumatic childhood into something closer to Urban Fantasy.

'The Legacy Of The Bones' went much further in that direction, introduced a shadowy apparently-satanically-inspired super villain and made the police officer the centre of his attention. None of this worked well for me. I found it hard to suspend disbelief and hard to sustain tension in the face of a threat that seemed too convoluted and too fantastical to be real.

'The Legacy Of The Bones' was still a compelling read. The characterisation is well crafted and was amplified by the focus on the detective coping with a newborn and the changes within her family and in her relationship with her colleagues and her own attitude to risk.

The sense of place remained strong and the links to local history felt real.

Overall, the book lacked the intensity of the first instalment, a common problem for the second book of a trilogy, and moved further away from the realism that attracted me to the first book.

I'll still read the final book in the trilogy but, at the moment, it's not at the top of my TBR pile.

I still recommend the audiobook version. The narration is very good. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample.




https://soundcloud.com/harpercollinspublishers/the-legacy-of-the-bones-by

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ispettrice Salasar
serial killer ( )